Originally Posted by
Marty Tippin
If the power is off (whether via a switch on the device or a switch on the wall as some of you use), the potential for a power surge to do any damage is pretty minimal -- provided the switch is a physical disconnect and not a "soft" disconnect as found in most consumer electronics. I don't worry at all about leaving my band saw, planer, jointer or tablesaw plugged in, though I'm probably running a big risk by leaving my PM3520B plugged in all the time (I don't understand why Powermatic didn't put an actual "on/off" power switch on the PM3520 lathes -- seems pretty stupid to me.) I do have whole-house surge suppression installed at the breaker box so I'm fairly confident any big transients will be caught.